hermitage

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

n. The habitation of a hermit or group of hermits.

n. A monastery or abbey.

n. A place where one can live in seclusion; a retreat.

n. The condition or way of life of a hermit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. A house or dwelling where a hermit lives.

n. A place of seclusion.

n. A period of seclusion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

n. The habitation of a hermit; a secluded residence.

n. A celebrated French wine, both white and red, of the Department of Drôme.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. The habitation of a hermit or of a company of hermits; a hermit's cell or hut, usually in a desert or solitary place; hence, any secluded habitation.

n. [capitalized] A French wine produced from vineyards on the sides of a hill rising from the river Rhône near Valence, in the department of Drôme: so called from a hermitage which anciently existed there. The red Hermitage is the most celebrated and most abundant; very little of the white Hermitage is made, and still less of the straw-colored or paille. Also Ermitage.

n. In landscape-gardening, a secluded building, arbor, or other feature.

The Carshalton Water Tower Trust cares for this superb building, which is available for local events and celebrations, and commands an enchanting view of Carshalton House, the grounds, and what is now called The hermitage we called it The Grotto, and were slightly scared of the big statue of St Joseph there.

On the summit of the rock stands a hermitage, which is now in the possession of an Englishman, who was formerly master of a vessel trading to Lisbon; and, having changed his religion and his manners, the latter of which, at least, were none of the best, betook himself to this place, in order to do penance for his sins.

Wow, I was there the previous autumn, when I was doing a semester abroad studying Russian through the CIEE program. The tickets were cheap and there were no lines then, so I went there at least once a week. That is where I learned to see art.

I am sure things have changed. I couldn't afford to do that now, since their prices are on a par with other major museums and there are long lines. But I think they do have more of their collection on view, and probably on rotation.

Glad you enjoyed it, rolig. I got to visit the Hermitage in the summer of 1978 -- it is indeed a special place. At the time, only some fantastically low percentage of the paintings they had were on display (something like 5 to 10%); I wonder if that has changed now, or what their rotation schedule might be.

I just read "The Curator", in the Word document Sionnach had linked to two years ago. (Thanks, Fox!) It's marvelous, and brought back memories of my own wanderings through the Hermitage some 30 years ago. It is a special place.